The kindness of knitters

by exercisebeforeknitting

Thank you so much for all of your many kind comments, notes, and emails! It is wonderful of you to share in our excitement about little Odysseus. The last few weeks have been great fun, if a bit tiring. I intend to be back and running by the end of the week because I have lots to show you! As it turns out, feeding a baby in the middle of the night makes for great knitting time. Indeed, knitting is a good way to keep myself awake long enough for the little guy to have his early morning snack.

Before I tell you what I’ve been knitting, let me show you what everyone else has been making. For weeks, the Exercise Before Knitting household has been flooded with lovely handmade welcome gifts for Odysseus and big sister presents for Beatrix. Aaron and I are both stunned by and grateful for the kindness of knitters. You are good people.

Kathy made this beautiful striped raglan with Shibui sock yarn just before O was born. He is not quite big enough for it yet, but since he is quickly outgrowing his newborn sweaters, it will not be long before he can wear it. I love the stripes! And the blue buttons!

And then, he arrived and she sent another sweater! A vest, actually – the Archie vest – made with Madelinetosh and Lorna’s Laces sock yarn. It is so adorable that I wish he could wear it forever.

Diana knitted the little nipper the cutest little bonnet. I took this picture weeks ago and his cheeks have since filled out the sides of the bonnet!! Our little guy is quite the chubby baby these days!

My local knitters from Knit Lawrence have been busy too! Dee Anna whipped up some soft, Kanoko Pants (Ravelry link) for his big cloth diapered butt out of some Queensland Kathmandu Tweed I’m pretty sure I talked her into buying a few years back. See, Dee Anna? It wasn’t enabling, it was foresight!

Sally resurrected and rewrote a vintage pattern, creating a beautiful, warm, zipped baby bunting out of Lanaloft that will be useful both this winter and next. I would love to know what magical substance she knitted into it because Odysseus falls asleep the moment I pop him in.

For example, when I tried to take a picture of him in it, I put him down on the sofa. He’s out. It’s magic. Sally, you should bottle this and sell it for a mint!

Danielle started by test knitting Pam’sElf Slipper pattern (Ravelry link) in a child size for Beatrix. Then, she got carried away and made a matching stocking cap! Beatrix is, as you can clearly see, dressed here as a big sister elf princess. What? Never heard of one? I guess you have not traveled to the North Pole where big sister elf princesses live…

The elf slippers are sopopular that we had to impose rules governing their use: no wearing them outside, no running in them, no playing basketball in them. It is hard to be three.

I actually had a hard time getting pictures of the burp cloths because they went into immediate circulation and were, well, a little dirty. This was the only clean one remaining! They are really lovely, useful cloths from a mom who would know.

The little man made great use of his new quilt, rolling over for the first time (to his great displeasure) the moment I pulled out my camera.

Thank you, all of you, from the four of us. We are not worthy of such outstanding handiwork. Your affection, kindness, and generosity mean a lot to us!

For as hesitant as people are about posting/gushing about their kids, I am thrilled at this post! I recognized the first two items right away, but had to click through Kathy’s name to recognize that I had seen them on Grumperina! Ha! O is adorable. I hope when I have kids they will be as stylishly dressed as immediately as yours.

P.S. I bet the Good Girl Fairy will visit Beatrix soon if she keeps being a good Big Sister Elf Princess! (The GGF leaves you a little present on your pillow if you have been an especially good sister lately, but you probably know that.)

What lovely lovely photos – so much talent and love all in one post. I seem to have missed your last post but congratulations, Odysseus is just gorgeous…he looks so sweet bundled up in the magical soporific bunting!

Look at all these beautiful gifts! Your boy is so sweet. I’m thankful that you linked to the baby bunting, as it looks like an interesting thing to knit, and a helpful one to have around. And thanks for your comment about the on/off ease of the kimono sweater – that’s a good one to keep in mind for future knits.

You know, when he gets bigger, you can put those lovely sweaters on a special stuffed animal or something so that they’re still in use. I had a few items like that that I hated to put away in storage after my son outgrew them, so this way I can enjoy them for a lot longer!

You must be some terrific person to get all that wonderful handknit stuff. Let me know if you ever lose one of those Peter Rabbit buttons. I think I still have one hanging around from years ago, and I’d be happy to send it to you!